In our Acharya we must see God Himself. To understand the Supreme One, we need the help of the Vedas and other difficult texts. But an Acharya is right before us, making it easier for us to worship. If a man had a vessel full of water in his hands, would he not use it? Will he wait for it to rain, collect the rainwater and then use that? When an Acharya is present before us, to show us the right path, is not worshipping him the right thing to do? That is why Alavandar, in his Stotra Ratnam, praises Nathamuni, said Valayapet Ramachariar, in a discourse. A Sri Vaishnava’s wealth lies in jnana, bhakti and vairagya, and Alavandar praises these three qualities of Nathamuni. We are drawn to an Acharya because of his qualities. In the Kishkinda Kanda, when Lakshmana speaks about Rama to Hanuman, he extols Rama’s virtues and says that he became Rama’s slave because of these qualities of Rama. Nathamuni was the sort of Acharya, who would attract people by his possession of desirable traits.
Alavandar uses adjectives adbhuta, achintya and aklishta, when talking of Nathamuni’s qualities. His qualities cannot be comprehended by us. They are astounding. His jnana is not something that came to him after tapas. It was the Supreme One’s gift to him. His jnana is aklishta jnana. Vishnu Puranam says that only jnana that pertains to Vedanta is jnana. All other knowledge is inferior. Only an Acharya with Vedantic knowledge can help us attain moksha. If an Acharya lacks jnana, can he guide us? Can a leaky boat help us cross a river? Nathamuni’s jnana is about the Lord’s roopa, His svaroopa, His kalyana gunas etc. His bhakti is like a deep, unfathomable ocean. Vairagya is the quality of not attaching importance to anything that is worldly, and is a characteristic of Acharyas like Nathamuni.
